Four Ways to Build Trust

Does the organization you work for bring out the best in you? Here’s what you can do, as an individual or as a supervisor, to foster and enable trust-building, even if only in your area.

Be sure to deliver what you say you will, and give people a heads up if circumstances prevent that—long before the last minute! No surprises!

Be open to receiving feedback—in fact, ask for it! Let people know you are willing to hear positive suggestions for improvement and they will be more open to giving and receiving feedback themselves.

Feel free to engage in conflict about ideas and processes and make certain that at the same time you don’t judge the person/people you are in conflict with. And then verify that you accept them as people with different opinions—in spite of any disagreement.

Walk your talk! If teamwork and collaboration are important to you, then engage with your team. Don’t isolate yourself and make decisions without their input. In addition, be sure to let them know in advance what role their input will have. Is it advisory? Or are you just gathering information? What part of the decision-making process will their input play?

Building trust is the cornerstone of high-performing teams and organizations, and at any moment we are either building or eroding trust—with each person we interact with on a regular basis!

What trust-building behaviors have you exhibited today?

What trust-eroding behaviors have you recognized in yourself, and how will you work to address them?